1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to explosion containment, and more particularly to containers deployable over a potential explosive device such as to contain an explosion thereof.
2. Background Art
There exists an increasing need for protecting people and property from potentially explosive devices such as the ones implemented through terrorist acts. The interest in adequately containing an explosion produced by such a device is two-fold. The first and most obvious interest is to minimize the damage inflicted to the environment in the vicinity of the explosion, the environment potentially including both property and people. The second interest is collecting as much forensic evidence as possible of the components that constituted the explosive device in order to aid in investigation.
Various containers have been disclosed to contain the explosion of such a device. For example, the SPC-500, produced by Bosik Security Containment Systems Ltd. in Canada, is a portable container which is adapted to contain the explosion of a suspect package or letter. However, this container is designed for a relatively small potentially explosive device. In addition, the device needs to be picked up and inserted into the container, which implies a risk of accidental detonation during manipulation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,708 issued Jan. 29, 2002 to Palley et al. discloses a container formed of a series of bands of blast resistant material. The potentially explosive device is either placed in a first band before the band is slid into at least another, or slipped into the at least partially assembled container through a slit. In both cases, and similarly to the SPC-500 container, the manipulation of the device which is necessary for placing it in the container causes a risk of accidental detonation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,654,053 issued Aug. 5, 1997 to Crane et al. discloses a container for containing an explosion without manipulation of the potentially explosive device. However, the manufacturing process is relatively complex, with multiple steps and necessitating heating to cure some of the materials used. In addition, the container is bulky and thus requires a considerable amount of storage space.
The Universal Containment System, produced by Vanguard Response Systems Inc. in Canada, includes a tent made of ballistic material designed to contain the potentially explosive device and a water-based foam filling the tent and surrounding the explosive to both attenuate the blast of the explosion and extinguish chemical reaction during the explosion. One disadvantage is that use of the foam necessitates an external source of water, as well as equipment such as nozzles and hoses in order for the container to be deployed. A second disadvantage is that the foam tends to destroy forensic evidence that could otherwise be obtained from fragments of the exploded device.
Accordingly, there is a need for a container which can adequately contain an explosive device and an explosion thereof without requiring manipulation of the device and which is easy to use and requires minimal storage space.